Skokie

Dir: Herbert Wise

1981

****

I really like Skokie. It’s a made-for-television drama that used to be repeated quite a bit in the 90s and even though I’d already seen it – quite a few times, I always found myself watching it again. It’s that perfect ‘off work sick’ film but of course, it’s far more important than all that. Skokie explores a very serious issue, the problem is that it wanders into melodrama and often the performances are a little too much. Maybe that’s why I like it but it does help the message. Based on the real life NSPA Controversy of Skokie, Illinois, which involved the National Socialist Party of America, the film retells the history of the event through the eyes of a few key players. In 1977 and 1978, Illinois Nazis of the National Socialist Party of America (derived from the American Nazi Party) attempted to demonstrate their political existence with a march in Skokie, far from their headquarters on Chicago's south side. Originally, the NSPA had planned a political rally in Marquette Park in Chicago; however the Chicago authorities thwarted these plans, first, by requiring the NSPA post an onerous public-safety-insurance bond, then, by banning all political demonstrations in Marquette Park. Seeking another free-speech political venue, the NSPA chose to march on Skokie. Given the many Holocaust survivors living in Skokie, the village's government thought the Nazi march would be politically provocative and socially disruptive, and refused the NSPA its permission to hold the event. The NSPA appealed that decision, and the American Civil Liberties Union interceded on their behalf, in the case of the National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie. An Illinois appeals court raised the injunction issued by a Cook County Circuit Court judge, ruling that the presence of the swastika, the Nazi emblem, would constitute deliberate provocation of the people of Skokie. However, the Court also ruled that Skokie's attorneys had failed to prove that either the Nazi uniform or their printed materials, which it was alleged that the Nazis intended to distribute, would incite violence. The NSPA members are portrayed a little ridiculously in the film, they are indeed ridiculous people that should be mocked but in terms of real drama I think they could have come across more hateful, as that is what they’re full of (among other things). This was all satirized to great effect in The Blues Brothers, released the previous year. What the film does successfully however is mix real and fictional characters and events, including fictionalizing aspects of some of the main characters. The American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Herb Lewisohn (played brilliantly by John Rubinstein) is fictional, apparently based on attorney (and later law professor) David A. Goldberger who argued the case in real life, While ACLU national lawyer Aryeh Neier (played by Stephen D. Newman) is a real person. Holocaust survivor and main character Max Feldman (played by the wonderful Danny Kaye) is fictional, while Holocaust survivor Sol Goldstein (played by David Hurst) is a real person. Eli Wallach and Carl Reiner are great as Moderate leaders of the local Jewish community and John Rubinstein, Stephen D. Newman, Ed Flanders and Brian Dennehy are all great in their respective roles but this is Danny Kaye’s film from start to finish. As the leaders of the Jewish community ask that people ignore the neo-Nazis - the strategy being that they put forward a "quarantine", isolating the meeting by totally ignoring the neo-Nazi presence and refusing to be provoked. Max Feldman, a Holocaust survivor , understands the logic behind the Jewish community refusing to acknowledge the rally and thus refusing to feed the media any publicity but he also remembers that he was told to ignore the Nazis nearly 40 years ago in Germany, and before he knew it he was in a concentration camp. This time he will take action, and he is ready to shed blood if necessary. Led by Max, most members of the community agree to protest, leaving the audience to decide which was the best method of protest in this sorry scenario. It has its faults but I would argue that this is an example of classic made-for-television greatness and Kaye’s final performance (only his second in a serious role) is of great credit to him.